Machine for shaping uppers over lasts



Filed June 16, 1943 Patented Sept. 25, 1945 MACHINE FOR SHAPING UrPERsOVER YLASTS Leonard'E. Proulx, Arlington, Mass, assignor to United ShoeMachinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a, corporation of New JerseyApplication 3 une16, 1943, Serial No. 490,966

5 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture of shoesfor shaping uppers over lasts, and more particularly to machines thatoperate successively in difierent locations along the edge of the shoebottom, as the shoe is presented and held by the operator in differentpositions, to pull the upper and lay its marginal portion over a sole orinsole on the last and fasten it. The embodiment herein illustrated isshown applied to a machine of the type disclosed. in United StatesLetters Patent No. 1,796,451, granted on March 17, 1931, upon anapplication of George Goddu, which is provided with means for fasteningthe upper to'a'lip or rib of an insole The invention is not, however;limited to main machines of that particular type nor to machines thatfasten the upper to an insole lip. 1

Machines that operate to last shoes progressively as above described,and particularly those of the type disclosed in the Goddu patent, areeach provided with a shoe restagainst which the operator holds thebottom of the shoe and which supports the shoe against the heightwisepull on the upper. The engagement of this shoe restwith the sole orinsole also'assists the operator in holding the shoe against lateraldisplacement by the force applied inlaying-the margin of the'upperinwardly over the bottom of the shoe. In operating on a shoe having aninsole provided with a lip to which the upper is fastened, the shoe.rest commonly engages the inner face of the lip, and in holding the shoeagainst lateral movement it acts mainly by pressure against the lip.Thus, if the lip is weak or the shoe rest is not held quite firmlyagainst the insole, the lip may be distorted and bent over by the forceapplied in laying the upper inwardly over the shoe bottom. Also, theshoe rest acts as an anvil against which the fastenings are clinched,and if the lip is distorted or bent over, during the overlaying of theupper, these fastenings will be driven through the upper part of thelip,instead of lower down near its base where they should be inserted tohold the overlasted upper down flatly on the feather of the sole and insnugly against the outside face of the lip. With the upper thusimproperly fastened to the lip, it tends to bridge across the feather ofthe sole, from its point of securement high on the lip to the edge ofthe sole, and the subsequent ins'eaming operation, in which theoverlasted upper is attached permanently to the sole, cannot be properlycarriedout.'

It is an object ofthis invention to provide in a machine of theabove-mentioned character.

a simple, inexpensive, and improved means to cooperate with the shoerest in holding the shoe against lateral displacement so as to relievethe lip of strain, and thus prevent distortion thereof during thelasting operation. To this end, the construction. herein shown comprisesa member arranged to engage the insole and adapted to hold the shoefirmly'against lateral movement in one direction while permitting theoperator to move it freely ina lengthwise direction to present dilferentportions of the upper to the lasting'instrumentalities. Preferably, andas herein illustrated, this member comprises a toothed wheel which isrotatably mounted in fixed relation to the shoe rest and yieldably heldagainst, the insole. In cross-section this wheel is shaped so as topresent a substantially straight side for resisting the lateral movementof the shoe by the lasting forces, and a rounding or arcuate side whichpermits lateral movement of the shoe in the opposite direction to allowthe shoe rest to be properly positioned with respect to the insole lip.The plane of rotation of the wheel extends generally parallel to thedirection in which the shoe is moved by the operator, and the wheelrolls 7 freely over the insole, during feeding of the shoe,

without, however, loosing its hold thereon.

The novel features of the invention will now be more particularlydescribed by reference to the accompanying drawing and pointed out inthe claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a. view in side elevationjofa portion of a machine embodyingthe invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation, and on an enlarged scale, of certainof the parts shown in Fig. 1, and with a shoe shown in cross-section,illustrating the position of these parts at one stage in the operationof the machine; and- Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III-III ofFig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Since the invention is herein illustrated as applied to a machineconstructed as fully disclosed in the Goddu patent mentioned above, onlythose parts of this machine as it is necessary to refer to for anunderstanding of the invention will be described in detail. Themachine'has a shoe rest [0 for engaging the bottom of a shoe presentedand held by the operator in different positions successively forprogressively lasting the shoe along its opposite sides. As hereinshown, by reference to the lastingof shoes in which the upper isfastened in lasted position'to a lip a on an insole b, the shoe rest isconstructed andarranged to contact the bottom of the shoe, to hold theshoe against heightwise movement, and has a face II for engaging theinner side of the lip to determine the lateral position of the shoe ineach lasting operation and also to clinch staples driven through theupper and the lip to fasten the upper-to the lip.- For ulling the upperin each lasting operation the machine is provided with a gripper I2having upper-gripping jaws l4, l4 which grip the upper u and pull itheightwise of the last and inwardly over the insole, the gripper beingoperated in the manner and by mechanism fully described in theabove-mentioned Letters Patent. 7

For laying the margin of the upper inwardly over the insole andfastening it in lasted position, as is also disclosed in said LettersPatent, the machine is provided with an overlaying member which consistsof a staple-guiding nozzle l6 that is moved inwardly over the shoebottom in a against the lip by the nozzle, a staple is driven held inthe position shown by a spring 34 which bears against an arm 36 on theholder. The tension of this spring may be adjusted by means of a screwplug 38 and the normal position of the shoe rest is determined by a stopscrew 40. For further details of this construction, reference may bemade to the mentioned Blanchard patent.

The wheel 20 is formed so as to present a substantially straight face 42on the side toward the shoe rest and a somewhat rounded or arcuate face44 on the other side. When a shoe is presented to the machine by theoperator the shoe rest is placed in back of the lip, Fig. 2, and thewheel 20 isforced upwards against the resistance from the nozzle by adriver ll through the upper and clinched on the face I I of theshoe-rest memher In to fasten the upper to the lip.

As will .be apparent, when the upper is pulled inwardly by the gripper,and is additionally forced inwardly by the overlaying member IS,

a considerable force is applied to the shoe tending to displaceitlaterally, and to the left as viewed in Fig, 2. This force is opposed bythe pressure of the face ll against the lip and also to some extent, atleast, by such friction as there. .40

is between the lower end of the shoe rest and the insole due to theupward pressure of the shoe as the operator supports the shoe.Additionally to oppose this force for relieving the lip of excessivestrain, thus to insure against any possi- 1 vided with a toothed wheel20 which is rotatably mounted on the lower end of an. arm 22'. This armis pivoted on a part of the shoe rest holder 24 by means of a stud 26and is held yieldably downward against the insole by a spring 28, Fig.3. When the shoe is removed from the machine such downward movement ofthe wheel is limited by means of a fixed pin 46 and a slot 48 in the arm22. g

In general similarity to the disclosure of the Goddu patent, the shoerest holder is mounted so as to permit the shoe rest to yield if uppermaterials of unusual thickness are clamped against the lip of the insoleby the overlaying member [6, but the parts which permit such yield arehere shown as constructed and arranged in the manner disclosed in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 1,955,870, granted on April 24, 1934,

1 upon an application of Benjamin B. Blanchard.

Briefly described, the shoe rest holder, is rotatably mounted on abracket 3|], extending from,

thehead 32 of the machine, andisyieldingly of spring 28 so that thesharpened edge of the .sole and thus effectively prevents any movementof the shoe laterally to the left as viewed in Fig. 2. With most of thelasting stress thus taken by the wheel 20, strain on the lip is greatlyreduced andall danger of distortion of the lip, with its attendantdeleterious effects on the proper fastening of the upper, is avoided. Itmay also be observed that with the wheel 20 embedded in the insole nomovement of the shoe, and of the lip, relative to the shoe rest, canoccur. Thus, should the lasting force ever exceed the resistance ofspring 34 the shoe rest and wheel would move back together and nodistortion of the lip would be produced. The wheel rotates freely duringmovement of the shoe in a lengthwise direction by the operator, intransferring the point of operation along the side of the shoe, so thatthere is no interference with the usual manipulation of the shoe in thisrespect. However, because of the action of the wheel 20 in holding theshoe against lateral movement, the operator is relieved of the necessityof physically supporting the shoe against such movement and his effortis correspondingly lessened.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new-and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts, the combination withmeans for pulling a shoe upper over a last successively in differentlocations along the edge of the shoe bottom, means for laying the pulledmarginal portion of the upper in over a sole on the last and forfastening it to a lip on the sole after each upper-pulling operation,and a shoe rest arranged to engage the sole and the inside face of thelip as the shoe is presented by the operator successively in differentlengthwise positions for the operation of the machine thereon, of amember for penetrating the sole to hold the shoe against lateralmovement relative to the shoe rest and thereby to relieve the strain onthe lip, said member being arranged to have continuous engagement withthe sole when the sole is held against the shoe rest and being adaptedto permit movement of the shoe in a lengthwise direction by theoperator.

2. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts, the combination withmeans for pulling a shoe upper over a last successively in differentlocations along the edge of the shoe bottom, means for laying the pulledmarginal portion of the upper in over a sole on the last and forfastening it to a lip on the sole after each upper-pulling operation,and a shoe rest arranged to engage the sole and the inside face of thelip as the shoe is presented by the operator successively in differentlengthwise positions for the operation of the machine thereon, of amember for penetrating the sole to hold the shoe against lateralmovement relative to the shoe rest thereby to relieve the strain on thelip, said member being yieldingly urged into continuous engagement withthe sole when the sole is held against the shoe rest and being adaptedto permit movement of the shoe in a lengthwise direction by theoperator.

3. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts, the combination withmeans for pulling a shoe upper over a last successively in differentlocations along the edge of the shoe bottom, means "for laying thepulled marginal portion of the upper in over a sole on the last and forfastening it to a lip on the sole after each upper-pulling operation,and a shoe rest arranged to engage the sole and the inside face of thelip as the shoe is presented by the operator successively in differentlengthwise positions for the operation of the machine thereon, of arotatable member for penetrating the sole to hold the shoe againstlateral movement relative to the shoe rest thereby to relieve the strainon the lip, said member being arranged to have continuous engagementwith the sole when the sole is held against the shoe rest and beingadapted, by rotating, to permit movement of the shoe in a lengthwisedirection by the operator.

4. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts, the combination withmeans for pulling a shoe upper over a last successively in differentlocations along the edge of the shoe bottom, means for laying the pulledmarginal portion of the upper in over a sole on the last and forfastening it to a lip on the sole after each upper-pulling operation,and a shoe rest arranged to engage the sole and the inside face of thelip as the shoe is presented by the operator successively in differentlengthwise positions for the operation of the machine thereon, of arotatable member for penetrating the sole to hold the shoe againstlateral movement relative to the shoe rest thereby to relieve the strainon the lip, said member being yieldingly urged into continuousengagement with the sole when the sole is held against the shoe rest andbeing adapted, by rotating, to permit movement of the shoe in alengthwise direction by the operator.

5. In a machine for shaping uppers over lasts, the combination withmeans for pulling a shoe upper over a last successively in differentlocations along the edge of the shoe bottom, means for laying the pulledmarginal portion of the upper in over a sole and for fasten ng it to alip on the sole after each upper-pulling operation, and a shoe restarranged to engage the sole and the insole face of the lip as the shoeis presented by the operator successively in difierent lengthwisepositions for the operation of the machine thereon, of a rotatabletoothed wheel for penetrating the sole to hold the shoe against lateralmovement relative to the shoe rest thereby to relieve the strain on thelip, said wheel being yieldingly urged into continuous engagement withthe sole when the sole is held against the shoe rest and being adapted,by rotating, to permit movement of the shoe in a lengthwise direction bythe operator.

LEONARD E. PROULX.

